Working with Vallejo Acrylic Metallics Review

10/02/2015 Well, Michigan is starting to cool down. 40 degrees this morning heading for a high of 60 today. Only consolation is looking out of my window at the ole Last Cavalry office seeing a bright blue sky and more having time for modelling.

This morning I told Dave that I was playing around with the new Vallejo Acrylic Metallic paints last night. This is my first exposure to any type of metallic paint. I've always stayed away from the enamel and lacquer metallics because of smell. However, after being introduced to the Vallejo Acrylic Metallics at the IPMS Nationals I vowed to build a natural metal aircraft. Back to last night, I found a piece of scrape sheet plastic and proceeded to spray a gloss black undercoat. Once the black was tacky dry I got out some Chrome Metallic, set the pressure on the compressor at about 14 pounds, started spraying and immediately saw a problem. I had read about the fact that the surface to be painted had to be perfect. Well, I had neglected to really clean and prep the surface of the plastic before putting the gloss black down and as a result tiny bits of dust were on the surface. Not so noticeable on the black but as soon as I started spraying the Chrome I could see the distortion.

I will say the Chrome looked real good except for the little motes of dust embedded in the paint. Very smooth finish, shiny but not as shiny as other metallic finishes, which I think is more realistic. Anyway, tonight its back to the basement for some more practice. I will mention that there was no smell at all while I was spraying.

My advice to anyone thinking of using a metallic finish is to give the Vallejo Acrylic Metallic line a try. There are currently 17 different colors in the line. Also, I have been told that it is not necessary to use an undercoat. It will create a different look but similar to finish created with the black undercoat. Tonight I am going to try painting without the undercoat and see what the result looks like. I will also try the black undercoat again after making sure to surface is immaculate. Wish me luck.